Tirana School Streets Evaluation

Over the last 15 years, a global child-friendly cities movement has emerged, reimagining urban environments to prioritize children’s wellbeing. A central innovation in this movement is the “school streets” model, which closes or redesigns the roads surrounding schools to reduce traffic and pollution and create safe, engaging spaces for children and their teachers and caregivers.

The capital of Albania has been a global pioneer in this effort. Since 2021, Qendra Marrëdhënie and the Municipality of Tirana have piloted School Streets at 12 public schools with  promising results — including reduced congestion and increased social interaction — though without rigorous causal evidence. Drawing on lessons from pilot research conducted in Spring 2025 by Epoka University, Qendra Marrëdhënie, and Global TIES for Children, this project will now evaluate the scale-up of these programs to provide the first causal evidence of impact of a “school streets” initiative.

The Tirana School Streets model prioritizes pedestrians, families and community life over cars by:

• Removing parking lanes and widening sidewalks

• Adding curb extensions, speed bumps, and lower speed limits

• Planting trees and adding seating/shade

• Creating safe, welcoming spaces for drop-off/pick-up, play, and social connection

The evaluation will assess how School Streets influence:

• Commuting habits and perceptions/enjoyment of commute of families of kindergarten and first graders at the school

• Children’s and caregivers’ stress, moods, and sense of safety

• Teachers’ perceptions of student behavior and engagement

• Opportunities for play, social connection, and community use of public space
  

• By generating rigorous evidence, the project will help cities worldwide advocate for investments in child-friendly urban design aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals for cities and for child development.

Building on pilot research conducted in Spring 2025, the evaluation uses a quasi-experimental (propensity score / inverse probability weighting) pre/post, wait-list design comparing intervention schools (receiving the School Streets program in 2025/26) to comparison schools (receiving the School Streets program in 2026/27).

• Baseline data is being collected in Fall 2025 before construction.

• Endline data will follow in Fall 2026 after implementation (and before implementation starts at the comparison schools).

• The mixed methods evaluation will combine student surveys, caregiver surveys, teacher questionnaires, children’s visual renderings of their school environments, and interviews with children and caregivers

Pilot testing confirmed that children enjoy and understand the measures, and informed refinements to the instruments to ensure the evaluation is child-friendly and reliable.